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Tag: Birding Tools

August Migration

August Migration

Sanderling and Western Sandpipers

Sanderlings and Western Sandpipers, 2020

This article was originally published in the San Joaquin Audubon Society’s The Hoot Owl newsletter, August 1, 2025 edition.

We’re nearing the end of another sizzling summer in the Central Valley. Many of us have been dragging through the summer doldrums – a period of dampened bird activity – while daydreaming about the upcoming migration that promises to inject excitement back into our birding lives. Peak fall migration in the lower 48 states is generally September through October, but did you know that August is when shorebirds are on the move?

These next several weeks are the perfect time to be scanning water sources to welcome back familiar friends from their breeding adventures. Shorebird rarities or short-term visitors will be popping up throughout the county. Look out for phalaropes spinning around in dizzying circles as they swirl up their food in the resulting vortex. Grab your scope and scan the groups of peeps (small sandpipers) to see if a Baird’s or Semipalmated Sandpiper can be plucked out of a flock. Take an extra moment to review Spotted Sandpipers in case the similar Solitary Sandpiper is actually the one bobbing along the water’s edge looking for food.

A useful tool to help predict upcoming bird migrants is eBird’s bar chart feature. Available for hotspots, counties, and even your own personal location, bar charts collect eBird data and display bird frequencies for your selected location. Use this link for the San Joaquin County bar charts (keep in mind that rarities are captured in the bar charts and do not necessarily represent expected species for the area). You can also review a nocturnal migration dashboard on BirdCast, which provides live and historical data during the spring and fall migration periods. Check out these resources, brush up on your shorebird ID, and brave the last heat of the summer as the final migration of 2025 gets underway!

New Birder Toolkit

New Birder Toolkit

Red-crested Cardinal

Red-Crested Cardinal, Hawaii. One of my favorite birds that I saw early in my birding career.

You see a bird outside your window. You hear bird songs welcome the day. A flash of brilliant colors flies by during a neighborhood walk. You are noticing birds and want to appreciate them or learn more about them. You are now entering into the birding world… But now what?

I am excited to introduce a new page on my blog: New Birder Toolkit. Here you will find a step-by-step guide on gear, field guides, and online resources to help you throughout your new birding adventures. I hope you enjoy it!

Hints of Fall

Hints of Fall

Marbled Godwit

Marbled Godwit, Emeryville Marina

Like many birders, I get the summer blues. Breeding season has wrapped up, bird songs have quieted, fledglings are growing up, and frankly it’s too hot for humans and birds alike to be out and about.

But fall is right around the corner. This morning I saw a gaggle of Canada Geese flying silently southward in their V-formation. It reminded me of the flocks of Snow Geese, Ross’ Geese, and Greater White-fronted Geese that winter at the Sacramento NWR. Seeing that V-formation over my apartment was enough to awaken my excitement for the upcoming fall migration season.

Another sign of fall is that shorebird migration has commenced. Already I’m seeing reports of shorebird rarities popping up across the Bay Area. I realized that I’m quite rusty on shorebird ID, so I brushed up my skills by watching a Cornell Bird Academy webinar series on shorebird ID. (Side note: This is an excellent resource if you’re willing to pay $30. It reviews many aspects of shorebird identification, including behavior, habitat, shape, and more.)

One important thing about finding shorebirds is to time your visit with the tides. For example, I like to visit the Emeryville Marina and depending on the tide, I will seek out a different spot. At low tide, a thin mudflat emerges in the harbor, which entices peeps to poke around for goodies. But it’s at high tide that a variety of shorebirds, large and small, collect at the rocks against the trail facing the bay. They are pushed closer to the shore by the rising waters, giving birders a closer look. The same goes with Hayward Shoreline – you want to visit at high tide because the birds are nudged closer to the shore and within viewing range. Take a moment to observe how the tide affects your birds at your favorite shorebird spot!

Look for tide predictions at https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/.

Birding in Place

Birding in Place

Dark-Eyed Junco

Dark-Eyed Junco

It’s been nearly a week since the beginning of the Bay Area shelter in place order, and just a few days into the California mandate to stay at home. I’ve been trying to take special care to ensure that I maintain social distancing, but I’m also currently pausing my park visits. We are allowed to go to parks for exercise, but so far I’ve been preferring to walk in my neighborhood since I figure the parks would be quite populated. I’m still adjusting to this new reality as is everyone else, and perhaps I’ll sneak in a park visit soon.

Birding is an important part of my life, and in an effort to maintain some sense of normalcy, I created a list of birding-related activities to do during these times that I wanted to share.

Bird from your window, backyard, or patio

I’m starting to slow down my pace of life. For example, I’m eating meals at the dinner table and not mindlessly shoveling down food in front of a computer. During one of my recent relaxing meals next to the window, I spotted an American Crow carrying a stick. I watched it land and spotted a nest! I would have never noticed this camouflaged nest had I not been watching the birds while eating. Now I have something to watch during the breeding season.

Crack open your field guide or use AllAboutBirds.org to study birds

Have you mastered gulls yet? Sparrows? Sandpipers? Warblers? Now is a good time to start!

Plan future birding trips

This is definitely not a good time to travel, but that doesn’t mean you can’t plan a future trip once things get back to normal. Get planning now so that you can easily put it into action.

Sign up for a course on Bird Academy

I’ve signed up for three courses thus far. The first one I finished over the span of a year and a half – “Ornithology: Comprehensive Bird Biology.” This is really science-based. I learned about the physics of flight, biology, ecology, and more.

I’m in the process of going through the “Be a Better Birder: Shorebird Identification Archived Live Series” and “Be a Better Birder: Warbler Identification.” The first course is a recorded webinar from a few years ago, but it’s still very helpful. The second course is designed for web-based learning and so far has been enjoyable.

Paint, draw, color, needlepoint, or other projects that involve birds

Are you crafty or want to start a new creative outlet? Merge your favorite pastimes!

Subscribe to a birding magazine

What better way to spend the time indoors than reading about birds! My favorite is the Bird Watcher’s Digest which takes me a long time to read. It’s worth every penny.

Talk a walk around the block

It’s OK to get exercise! Just be sure to practice social distancing in order to keep you, family, and others safe. I already spotted an Oak Titmouse nest cavity and a possible California Scrub-Jay nesting site by slowing down and looking at the local birds.

Watch a webcam

There are a lot of webcams! Check out some of these:

Cal Falcons

Cornell Feeder Watch

Ontario Feeder Watch

Panama Fruit Feeders

Watch documentaries and nature shows

Got Netflix or other streaming services? Look at their selection of nature shows. No streaming service? Go to YouTube! One tried-and-true movie that is awesome is The Big Year (2011).

Birding Maps Introduction

Birding Maps Introduction

Hayward Regional Shoreline. The bane of my existence. At least, in terms of nicknames.

Rare bird alert descriptions would note places like “Mt. Trashmore” and “Frank’s Dump,” but I quickly realized these were local names for areas in the regional park not included on any official trail maps. Google searches came up dry. Searches on various Facebook birding groups yielded nothing. I spent many trips wandering around this vast space never understanding exactly where these places were located.

Inspiration hit me the other day – why not create a public map for birders? I threw together a Google Map and posted it on the Fremont Birding Circle Facebook Group asking members to fill out nicknames. I got that and more – landmarks and important birding areas were also highlighted. Most of the edits came from Jerry Ting (thank you!) and we now have a crowdsourced map to help us name-newbies better understand the shoreline.

This is the first of what I hope becomes several maps, some crowdsourced and some of my own. A new webpage, “Birding Maps,” is available in the top menu bar.

Created by Elizabeth Olin
Crowdsourced by Fremont Birding Circle
https://tinyurl.com/BirdingMap-HRS
Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge

Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge

Happy New Year!

For the past several years, my husband and I have visited the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) on New Year’s Day. It’s a refreshing way to begin the new year. It also guarantees a substantial list of birds for anyone starting a new annual list.

Snow Geese

Snow Geese, 2018

Located about two hours north of the Bay Area, this water refuge is a part of a complex of several national wildlife refuges. It features a six-mile auto tour. You basically slowly drive around in a car blasting the heater on your legs (in the winter) while you poke your head out of the open car window into the freezing winter air. Visitors are permitted to stretch their legs at specified locations. These are great spots to set up a scope and take a look around.

Various Geese

Take Off! 2018

The main attraction in the winter is the thousands upon thousands of geese. Snow Geese, Ross’s Geese, and Greater White-fronted Geese easily add up to more than 10,000 on location. When they get spooked and take up flight, it is a miraculous spectacle of birds lifting into the air. The subsequent noise with a mixture of calls and beating wings is quite memorable.

Bald Eagle and Common Raven

Immature Bald Eagle and Common Raven, 2017

Bald Eagles are another fun bird to observe. I’ve seen immature and adult eagles fly around and interact with the other birds. They are magnificent creatures to behold as they soar across the skies. In 2017, I was delighted to watch a Common Raven attempt to steal a partially-consumed American Coot from an eagle. The raven was boldly jumping around, and nearly on, the eagle in an attempt to snatch an easy meal.

Northern Shrike

Northern Shrike, a rarity for the area, 2018

Other fun birds are present, such as all kinds of waterfowl, sparrows, pheasants, hawks, and more. We usually take at least two hours to drive through the six miles. I’ve heard that others will ride through multiple times. If you get a chance to visit, the sheer volume of birds present will leave you with a memorable experience.